Arsenal's unfinished symphony ends on typically sharp note

Arsenal would be wise to learn some Americanisms in case Stan Kroenke comes up with a share offer which finds their pukka English board abandoning Elgar for Sousa. One that comes to mind is about never giving a sucker an even break, a habit which has plagued Arsenal all season and saw them held to a draw at Tottenham in a game they should have won by a mile.

Having fallen behind to Robbie Keane's goal on the half-hour and hit posts or bar three times before going ahead in the second half through Kolo Touré and Emmanuel Adebayor, Arsenal continued to dominate the match until the fifth and final minute of stoppage time when Jermaine Jenas snatched a point for Spurs. The result left Arsène Wenger's team needing one point to assure themselves of a place in the Champions League qualifiers next season and kept alive Tottenham's chances of making it to the Uefa Cup.

In a perverse sort of way Arsenal and their supporters may have been relieved to see that after a tumultuous week off the pitch normal service was resumed on it. Wenger appeared only mildly put out at the manner in which yet another two points had been squandered even if he did admit "it feels like a defeat".

Certainly the Arsenal manager was more than satisfied with the reaction of his team to the departure of David Dein, the club's vice-chairman and Wenger's closest ally, following a boardroom dispute over Kroenke's accumulation of shares and the possibility of joining Manchester United, Liverpool and Aston Villa in selling out to American money.

Having reassured the players he would not be following Dein out of Arsenal Wenger was rewarded, in the second half at least, with another of those displays of perceptive passing and athletic, intelligent movement that have distinguished so many of their games this season. "We should have had more goals," he said, "but it showed outstanding spirit to come from a goal down after the week we'd had."

For all that, the outlook at the Emirates is bound to be unsettled. In football matters Dein and Wenger worked together, with the vice-chairman handling the players' comings and goings. "I always left the ugly part to David as much as I could," Wenger said. "Now it will be more difficult and more time-consuming because he did a lot of work, especially negotiation-wise." There is talk of Arsenal replacing Dein with a director of football. "It will happen," said Wenger. "At the moment I haven't given it any thought but it will be my choice."

On the field Wenger has a director of football in Cesc Fábregas who began Saturday's match among the substitutes. Once Arsenal had fallen behind he came on to tap his baton and unite strings, brass, woodwind and percussion in a series of symphonic variations which had Tottenham struggling to remember Chopsticks. Spurs are an improving side but until Jenas scored their equaliser the gap between Martin Jol's team and the Premier League elite looked as wide as ever.

Even so they began well enough to suggest they were capable of beating Arsenal for the first time in 15 Premiership encounters and went ahead when Michael Dawson headed down a corner for Keane to nod the ball past Jens Lehmann. Enter Fábregas to send in Emmanuel Eboué for a shot against the far post which was followed after half-time by headers from Touré and Adebayor hitting post and bar.

Free-kicks from Fábregas saw Touré score with a shot which ricocheted in off Paul Robinson and Adebayor rise above Dawson to head Arsenal into a lead which they preserved with ease until Jenas ran on to a return pass from Steed Malbranque to drive a long low shot beyond Lehmann. "That's the story of our season so far," said Wenger. Even Jol conceded that "in the first half I would have been disappointed with a draw but in the second half they could have had a third or a fourth."

Wenger implied that Arsenal did not need fresh money from Kroenke or anybody else. "We will not change the team. It will remain as it is at the moment and we will get injured players [specifically Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie] back. We want to keep the core of the team and the spirit of the team. The necessary quality is there. Sometimes it is intelligent not to try too much to improve."

Maybe so but one way or another Arsenal need to rediscover the art of beating opponents with goals rather than bewildering them with science, then leaving the lab unlocked. Unless Henry can regain form and fitness and maintain both, this may mean expensive signings rather than expansive words.

Man of the match Cesc Fábregas

The young Spaniard showed vision and skill which complemented the power and athleticism of Gilberto and Abou Diaby and dominated the second half until Spurs' late equaliser.

Best moment The pass from Fábregas, quick, perceptive and beautifully timed, which led to Emmanuel Eboué hitting a post